Method for Allocating Channel Resources in a Distributed Control Channel System

1. A method comprising the steps of: identifying in an Dynamic Resource Allocation and Access Protocol (DRAAP) outbound message a slot type associated with each timeslot in a scheduling period; and identifying in the Dynamic Resource Allocation and Access Protocol (DRAAP) outbound message an address of a first subscriber group assigned to transmit in a first timeslot if the slot type of the first timeslot is of a first type and an address of a second subscriber group assigned to transmit in a second timeslot if the slot type wherein identifying in the DRAAP outbound message a group address associated with a plurality of subscriber units assigned to transmit in a third timeslot if the slot type of the third time slot is of a third type of the second timeslot is of the second type.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first type and second type are of the same type.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first type and the second type are the same.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first subscriber group and the second subscriber group each comprise at least one subscriber unit.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first type and the second type is a reserved access slot type.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the third type is a random access slot type, a linearization opportunity slot type, and a quiet opportunity slot type.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the scheduling period is a fixed number of timeslots.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the scheduling period is a variable number of timeslots.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the variable number of timeslots is self-scheduling.

10. A method comprising the steps of: identifying in an Dynamic Resource Allocation and Access Protocol (DRAAP) outbound message a slot type associated with each timeslot in a scheduling period; and identifying in the Dynamic Resource Allocation and Access Protocol (DRAAP) outbound message a group address associated with a plurality of subscriber units assigned to transmit in a first timeslot if the slot type of the first timeslot is of a first type wherein the first type is one of a random access slot type, and a linearization opportunity slot type.

11. A method comprising the steps of: identifying in an Dynamic Resource Allocation and Access Protocol (DRAAP) outbound message a slot type associated with each timeslot in a scheduling period; identifying in the Dynamic Resource Allocation and Access Protocol (DRAAP) outbound message an address of a subscriber group assigned to transmit in a first timeslot if the slot type of the first timeslot is of the first type; and identifying in the Dynamic Resource Allocation and Access Protocol (DRAAP) outbound message that a second timeslot is of a second type wherein the second type is one of a random access slot type, a linearization opportunity slot type, and a quiet opportunity slot type.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the subscriber group comprises at least one subscriber unit.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the first type is a reserved access slot type.